Tibetan book covers with auspicious motif

This pair of mid-12th century Tibetan book covers was used to support a paper or a palm leaf manuscript. The outer sides of the cover are carved and gilded with decorative scrolling patterns. The central motif is a purnakalasha, an auspicious motif representing abundance from which the foliage actually pours out. The inner side has delicate painted images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. The outer side on the other cover bears a tsipa head with scrolling foliage oozing out from his mouth. Such imagery has a very long lineage and could be traced back to Buddhist art of the early centuries before the current era.

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